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Hello world!

We launch today. It’s been quite a journey to get here and it has only just begun!

So why now and why The Social Value Portal?

I think Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is dead, it has always been a bit of side issue anyway but over the last few years it has been side lined even further. For over 25 years I have been trying to get organisations to take CSR seriously; it has always been a struggle.

It costs too much?

What’s in it for us?

We have more important things to worry about like making money…

Our investors just don’t care!

‘Green Crap’ (malignly attributed to our Prime Minister?)

These are just a small selection of the responses that I have had down the years. But I now think that the worm has finally turned.

It started with the Lemans, then the Occupy movement, it gained momentum as the corporate world was exposed as be ‘irresponsible’ and have has finally shifted for good with the advent of Social Value Act (SVA).

I believe that the SVA is a game changer and will force Business to do what it should have been doing all along (and what the corporation was originally created to do); put Society first.

Why do I think the SVA is such a game changer?

It allows our public sector to put Social Value at the centre of the procurement process

It is flexible and devolves responsibility for setting targets to a local level

It means business must measure and report their contribution to Society in a way that makes sense and requires accountability

I am shamelessly supportive of the SVA as a stick to make things happen – at last a piece of legislation that encourages and incentivises Business to recognise and build its position in our Society!

All well and good – the problem is that as our latest survey shows both Business and the Public Sector are struggling with definitions, measurement and legal issues.

And so this is what The Social Value Portal is all about – bridging the gap in our collective knowledge, providing guidance, real time solutions and case studies to support Business, The Public Sector and Third Sector providers to make Social Value Creation a core activity AND a responsibility for all.

I hope you find the site useful and I look forward to sharing more thoughts again soon!